Four teams of all-star competitors, including three Heisman Trophy winners (in their video game personae, above) and two Pro Football Hall of Famers, clash tonight in the Madden Bowl, the annual pre-Super Bowl throwdown EA Sports has staged for nearly 20 years. You can watch the action on ESPN3, which means if you… »2/02/12 6:00pm 2/02/12 6:00pm

It's an annual tradition for Madden NFL 12 to simulate the upcoming season and offer its predictions of how the football season will unfold. Last year it correctly picked one of the Super Bowl participants—the eventual champion Green Bay Packers. This year, the game calls for a rematch of their title game with the… »9/07/11 1:20pm 9/07/11 1:20pm

As the NFL lockout dragged all of the spring and much of the summer, Madden NFL 12 figured to be the only football coming to your TV this year, until a month before its release. From its conception, the game was meant to be a salve for the hurting hardcore fan, not a song for those who tune in only for Super Bowl… »9/06/11 12:00pm 9/06/11 12:00pm

In the online multiplayer era of sports gaming, I have been a Grinch-like hermit, rarely venturing forth into it except to ragequit and rant that none of what they do reflects reality, and to get off my lawn. Madden, which has a culture of elite play spanning about a decade, television shows celebrating it, and a… »9/02/11 6:00pm 9/02/11 6:00pm

Previewed this spring, the list of Madden NFL 12's improvements to its Franchise campaign read like a letter to Santa written by the hardcore football fan. Wished-for features like draft-pick trades, custom playbooks and training camp cut days join new concepts like a fast-paced free agency period under the hood of … »8/31/11 9:00pm 8/31/11 9:00pm

If the assembled video game reviewers were a lazier bunch, they'd simply release a short blurb with each new Madden game calling it the best official NFL console game of the year. »8/31/11 2:40pm 8/31/11 2:40pm

In researching my review of , I decided to go back and re-read portions of my previous Madden reviews over the course of the last…

This has been an obsession of mine ever since Cowboys Stadium appeared in Madden NFL 10—hit the Jerrytron, the arena's massive scoreboard, with a punt. Tennessee's A.J. Trapasso did in a pre-season game in 2009, causing a brief foofaraw over its size and how low it was hanging over the field. »8/30/11 4:20pm 8/30/11 4:20pm

Simulation-quality sports video games all now ship with some kind of solo career mode, in which you create or control one player throughout his entire career. By far, this fantasy experience is most underserved by the football games. NCAA Football 12 made a substantial effort to upgrade its career this year, and… »8/29/11 8:00pm 8/29/11 8:00pm

The first day of EA Sports' "Season Ticket" premium subscription, offering a three-day (or more) full preview of Madden NFL 12, does not reflect wide acceptance among the hardcore community it was meant to appeal to. »8/27/11 12:00am 8/27/11 12:00am

The preview weekend download for Madden NFL 12 is now underway for PlayStation 3 subscribers to the Season Ticket. Because of the way this is handled (through the PlayStation Store, instead of an application) some may be confused about how to start the download. Here is the answer: »8/26/11 7:40pm 8/26/11 7:40pm

John Madden has a low tolerance for cheesy play in the video game bearing his name. "I don't like to see stuff that isn't real, or isn't practical," he says, "like going for it long on fourth down." He would, however, blitz you every single down, if you gave him back one of his old linebackers. »8/25/11 6:00pm 8/25/11 6:00pm

The NFL's official fantasy football service, offered through NFL.com, will be integrated into Madden NFL 12, updating gamers with scores and results from their leagues, standings, schedules and more. »8/24/11 5:30pm 8/24/11 5:30pm